Spring-hinge



No. 625,72l. Patented May 23, I899. L. m. DEVORE.

SPRING HINGE.

(Application filed Sept." 30, 1895.)

(No Model.)

lnmumim NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVI M. DEVORE, OF FREEPOR'I, ILLINOIS.

SPRING-HINGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 625,721, dated May 23, 1899.

Application filed September 30, 1895. Serial No. 564,061. (N0 odem T0 etZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEVI M. DEVORE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Freeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Hinges, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to improvements in spring-hinges of that class in which the tension of the spring operates to hold the door closed when it is closed, but to hold it open when it is open, the direction of movement of the parts of the hinge under the force of the spring being changed at a certain point between the limits of motion of the hinge, this point being known as the deadpoint of the hinge.

The special purpose of the improvement set forth and claimed in this application is to provide an improved means for supporting the operating-spring in the hinge and holding it in position under the strain of operation,- the means provided being such as to diminish or prevent the binding or rubbing of the coils of the spring upon each other or upon the leaf of the hinge by which the coil is supported. The means adopted for this purpose are fully described in this specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in WIllOl1- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a complete hinge. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section in the line 3 3, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a section in the same plane, the right-hand leaf being shown in the position which it assumes when the hinge is fully open, whereas the parts are shown in Fig. 3 in the relation in which they appear when the hinge is completely closed or in its normal position.

In the figures, A B are two leaves which are in approximately the same plane when in and connected therewith by means of short pintles on the cars a a, entering notches or recesses in the ears b 1), these pintles furnishing the pivotal connection of the hinge and being therefore located at the hinge-axis. Within the space covered by the hood 0, is a spring-coil 0, made up of any desired number of spirals, the ends of the wire of the coil being extended in substantially straight lines tangential to the coil and being so connected with the respective leaves of the hinge that one arm supports the spring, while the other transmits its force in such a way as to give the hinge its desired operation. The position of the spring, as is clearly evident from the drawings, is such that the axis of the coil is substantially at right angles to the plane of the leaves and intersects the axis of the hinge. In other words, the axis of the coil is approximately in a plane passing through the axis or pivot-line of the hinge and at right angles to the plane of the leaf. This plane may be called the central plane of the hinge, and I shall so refer to it in the claim for convenience. The shorter arm 0' of the spring, as shown in the drawings, is transverse to the central plane of the hinge, and this is its most efiicient position, though the angle may be somewhat varied without materially affecting its function. It lies in a socket a in the leaf A, this socket being of such form as to be made in the castingof the leaf, and being adapted to permit rotation of the arm 0, while securely fixing its location.

The longer arm 0 of the spring is extended in a line approximately parallel to the axis or pivot-line of the hinge and enters a notch b in the ear I) of the leaf B, the relation of all the parts being such that when the spring is in the position shown clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings it is under tension, the tendency of its force being to increase the angle between the two arms c 0 An inspection of Fig. 2 of the drawings will clearly indicate that the force of the spring tends to hold all the parts in the positions in which they are shown in that figure; but that if the leaf B be swung toward the position in which it is shown in Fig. 4. the end of the arm a will be carried in a circle by the ear b, and in the course of its movement will pass the dead-point of the hinge, so that its tension will tend to hold the leaf B in the position in which it is shown in Fig. t. In this movewhat further compressed, but is also rocked in the plane of its axis about the transverse arm 0, the arm during this entire movement forming the support of the entire spring. This rocking movement relieves the coil of any friction upon its support and at the same time practically avoids friction between the spirals of the coil, since each of them is free to yield to strain without any retardation from its support. It is clearly apparent from the cross-section of the hinge in Fig. 3 or Fig. 4 that a socket for an arm of any considerable length extending transversely, or approximately so, to the central plane of the hinge must necessarily be formed in the plane i of the leaf, and it is equally evident that in order to make the arm capable of the function hereinbefore explained it must be of sufficient length to form a substantial support for the spring under the strain of use. If, therefore, 1 the spring, operating in the manner hereinbefore described, is to be supported on a rocking arm or pivot integral with itself, the support of the transverse rocking arm must be in the plane of the leaf unless the socket for the arm is formed by the unnecessary and unsightly addition of superfluous stock. In other words, this position of the arm is practically essential in the construction of a hinge in which the spring is supported merely by its engagement with the leaves of-the hinge, and operates in the way hereinbefore described. Furthermore, the socket formed in I the plane of the leaf is not onlya practically i indispensable feature of the specific type of hinge forming the subject-matter of this application, but, as will be apparent to any person familiar with the art of casting metal, this location of the socket in a hinge having a 1 hooded leaf like that shown in the drawings is much more advantageous than any other possible position in which the socket could be formed.

I am aware that the free pivoting of the coil of a spring adapted to operate on the same I principle-set forth herein is not broadly new i at this'time, that general feature of construction and operation being disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 475,080, issued to me May 17, 1892, for improvements in spring-hinges. In all the forms shown and described in that patent, however, the axis of the spring-coil is transverse to the central plane of the hinge, and in all the forms illustrating the use of a coiled spring in that patcut the pivot of the coil is either formed of some part or element added to the coil and the leaf supporting it or is merely a short tip turned at right angles to the tangential line and extended into or through the thin leaf or the equally thin wall of its hood. While the disclosure in said prior patent was ample as illustrating the principle of operation and construction intended to be covered by the claim, the construction set forth in this application is, in fact, much more satisfactory as a commercially useful device than the one shown in the earlier patent, for the two reasons, first, that the supporting-arm of the coil shown in this application is straight and tangent to the coil, and, second, that the socket formed in the plane of the leaf gives an adequate bearing to support the arm under all conditions and through a long period of Wear.

Having now described and explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a spring-hinge of the class described, the combination with two leaves, A, B, in approximately the same plane and connected at their ends by axially-pivoted knuckles, ofaspringcoil having its axis approximately in the central plane of the hinge, and its ends at an an-' gle to each other, one of said ends being extended to eccen tricall y engage the knuckle of one of said leaves, and the other end being extended into a suitable socket, substantially in the plane of the other leaf.

LEVI M. DEVORE.

Witnessesz' CHAS. O. SHERVEY, A. I. H. EBBESEN. 

